Texas Links: Scutaro, Lee, Wandy, Astros

The Rangers have the second best record in baseball (55-37) while the Astros have the worst record in baseball (34-60). Here's the latest from Texas…

The Rangers would have interest in Marco Scutaro as a utility man if the Rockies were to put him on the market, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).

Cliff Lee does not have the Rangers on his 21-team no-trade list according to Heyman. There is still no indication that the Phillies will move their veteran left-hander, even to free up payroll to sign Cole Hamels long-term.

ESPN's Buster Olney hears from rival executives that the Astros seem to be following the old Devil Rays strategy, meaning they'll accumulate top draft picks for several years because their big league team will be so bad (Twitter link).

“ESPN’s Buster Olney hears from rival executives that the Astros seem to be following the old Devil Rays strategy, meaning they’ll accumulate top draft picks for several years because their big league team will be so bad”

It took Olney and rival executives to figure out the Astros strategy. That’s great insight especially since they’ve been at the rebuilding for 2 years now. However I don’t think they can financially afford to throw junk out there. Attendance is terrible and will only get worse.

I understand the reasoning behind it, but… RAJ, you traded Cliff Lee away once and got crap prospects and the ire of the fanbase on you. Then you re-sign him, which was awesome, but don’t make the same mistake twice. You won’t be able to re-sign him AGAIN if you trade him.

Couple of points of interest…..in today’s Houston Chronicle, Jeff Luhnow acknowledges that the player to be named later in the Brett Myers trade is a “significant part of the deal”. Also note that in the Astros best years (1994-2008) their payroll was usually in the $80-100 million range, and their attendance was in the 2.5-3 million range. This is not Tampa Bay. What Luhnow is doing is incredible. He’s had the best draft in the majors, has also been stocking the farm system thru trades, every team in the Astros system from Greeneville in the Rookie Leagues thru Oklahoma City in AAA is above .500 for the first time in over 10 years. His payroll was $60 million to open this season, he has now traded Carlos Lee ($19 mill), JA Happ, Brandon Lyon and Brett Myers (together another $18 million). He will also trade Wandy but likely will eat a signifcant portion of his $13 million salary. His payroll will be down to $23 million at year even if he eats Wandy’s salary. The Astros have reached a TV deal with Comcast to bring in an additional $30 million a year in revenue starting next season. And they will have significant financial flexibilty……to sign free agents, and at the same time build the farm. The blueprint is very similar to the Rangers, and not the Rays.

I think Olney’s seen more recent scouting reports, honestly… the Astros farm system barely deserved that name under McClane. The Cubs system was considered middle of the pack and everybody’s saying their rebuild could take several years yet. The Astros have tried spending their way out of that hole for years and haven’t sniffed the playoffs since ’05 (i think).

Yes, but the Astros farm is probably around middle of the pack, also, now. Houston’s farm has improved dramatically in the previous 18 months. If they keep something close to the same trajectory, I don’t think 2015 is beyond reach for the playoffs.

They sniffed the playoffs in ’08. They didn’t get there, but they came very close. That’s the year when they had to play a crucial game against the Cubs in Milwaukee(as the home team) due to Hurricane Ike.

oh, neither do i. If they really seriously commit to a rebuild i’d say that’s highly likely. Unfortunately it also means not committing to any long term contracts with established major leaguers until winter of ’13 at best. I don’t see the ‘Stros being big-time spenders this off season for the same reason i don’t see it from the Cubs.